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18 Days from$4999 p/p in USD -
DeparturesYear Round
Destinations
Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland,
Tour Type
Guided
Safari Standard
Mid Range
Tour Overview
This program includes safaris, expeditions, immersive experiences, boat cruises, stunning sights (4 UNESCO) in 4 Southern African countries.
Major attractions include the Blyde River Canyon, Soweto Township, Table Mountain, Hlane Royal National Park/Swaziland, Kruger National Park/South Africa, Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve, iSimangaliso National Park, Sani Pass/Lesotho, Punto do Oura/Mozambique, Cape of Good Hope National Park, Drakensberg, Hermanus (whale coast), Cape Winelands, Cape Town, Stellenbosch and many more.
Total road distance is 3600 km. The itinerary can be tailored to suit your requirements.
A private safari tour of 18 days @ USD 4999 is unheard of.
General Information
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Safari types:Big Five Safari, Birding Safari, Botanical Safari, Coastal Safari, Dolphin Safari, Family Safari, Guided, Self Drive Safari, Tailormade Safari, Walking Safari
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You will visit:Maputo, Kruger National Park, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, Kosi Bay, Drakensberg, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Panorama Route, Cape Winelands, Cape Peninsula, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Blyde River Canyon, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, St Lucia Marine Reserve, Hlane Royal National Park
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Wildlife:Cape buffalo, Wildebeest, Leopard , African wild dog, Sable, Elephant, 740 birds, Antelope, Lichtenstein's hartebeest, Cheetah, Lion, Hyena, Jackal, Kudu, Nyala, Bushbaby, Vervet monkey, Chacma baboon, Leopard tortoise , Birds, Big Five, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard, Cheetah, Lion, Rhino, Antelope, Zebra, Giraffe, Hyena, Ostrich, Warthog, Whale, Shark, Dolphin, Aardvark, Pangolin, Aardwolf, Bat-eared Fox, Meercat, Wildebeest, Grey Rheebuck, Springbok, Jackal, Kudu, Monkey, Bushbuck, Duiker, Reedbuck, Fur Seal, Penguin, Birds, Big Five, Zebra, Giraffe, Antelope, Cheetah, Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo, White Rhino, Black Rhino, Hippo, Crocodile, Tsessebe, Sable, Waterbuck, Nyala, Impala, Wildebeest, Warthog, Hyena
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Activities:Game Drive, Game Viewing, Walking Safari, Hiking, Boat Cruise, Nature Walk, Diving, Snorkelling, Sightseeing Tour, Optional Activities, Birding, 4x4 Tour, Whale Watching, Wine Tasting, Cultural Experience, Swimming, Viewing Hide, UNESCO Site
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Getting around:Rental Car
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Start/end:Start in Johannesburg, end in Cape Town, Western Cape
Price Per Person – USD
From USD 4999 per person
What's Included
18 day/17 nights accommodation in 3 and 4 star establishments
17 breakfasts, 9 dinners & 3 lunches
17 day private guide safari tour with us (owner/guides).
New SUV vehicle
All activities, conservation and entrance fees as per itinerary unless it is optional (optional activities are offered to you at our preferential rates)
Flight from Durban to Cape Town
Airport transfers
Meals, drinks as per itinerary
Maps, brochures, literature on the region and binoculars
Total per person is USD 5665
*We are happy to recommend and book optional activities for you throughout your safari holiday at our generous preferential rates.
What's Excluded
items of a personal nature
tips
Disclaimer
- This itinerary is owned and delivered by ‘Southern African Tours‘
- All prices are ‘From’ and may vary at the time of booking
- Display price is usually based on two people sharing
- ‘Southern African Tours‘ reserves the right to change the content and price of the itinerary
- All itineraries and services are subject to availability
Day by Day Overview
Airport private transfer to your hotel.
Afternoon at leisure, or depending on your time of arrival awesome activities can be arranged for you at our preferential rates.
Enjoy the famous Sandton City, one of South Africa’s leading malls with excellent restaurants.
Accommodation: Hotel Sky _ Sandton
Soweto and Apartheid Museum tour
We set off to the heart of Soweto, driving past Baragwanath Hospital, an enormous taxi rank & the historic suburb of Diepkloof. Our first stop in Soweto is at Motsoaledi informal settlement. Walk through the streets with your guide past street cafés & craft markets to a community center that we sponsor. Greet & meet the people in the settlement and learn more about their way of life.
We continue on through Orlando West to the hub of Soweto. We stop outside Regina Mundi Church & Freedom Square for a quick overview & then go to the Hector Pieterson Museum for a formal tour.
We make our way down the vibrant Vilakazi Street, past iconic monuments & the homes of Nelson & Winnie Mandela & Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Time permitting, you have the option of stopping at Nelson Mandela Museum for a visit.
Accommodation: Hotel Sky _ Sandton
Meals Breakfast and lunch
Mineral water
Blyde River Canyon & Panoramic Route
We depart for the beautiful Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga.
First visit is Pilgrim’s Rest, an old gold mining town dating back to 1873, is a declared national monument on the eastern Escarpment of Mpumalanga offering historical attractions linked to gold as well as many outdoor adventure activities.
We follow the scenic Panorama Route and admire God’s Window, Three Rondavels, Blyde River Canyon, Bourkes Luck Potholes and the various Canyon waterfalls.
Time and weather permitting, a swim in the beautiful Mac Mac pools to cool off.
Accommodation: Panorama Chalets
Breakfast and Dinner
Mineral water and soft drinks
What we didn’t manage to do/see yesterday on the Panorama route we shall do this morning before departing for Kruger. Arrive in the late morning at the famous Kruger National Park and begin our safari into this bush veld wonderland. Enjoy a light lunch from a viewpoint on the banks of the mighty Sabie River. Continue our game drive and around 3 pm check in at Lower Sabie camp.
At 16:30 pm you begin your exciting late afternoon/sunset game drive with a professional game ranger. The professional game ranger will enthrall you with stories of the African bush and point out the Big 5 and other rare and endangered species.
Please note these 2 extra safari activities can only be operated by the parks board, and staying inside the park therefore making it a special experience.
On your return Bianca and I will have the fire ready to prepare your traditional South African BBQ.
Accommodation: Olifants Rest Camp or similar
Breakfast and Dinner (traditional South African barbeque)
Mineral water, wine, beer and soft drinks
After breakfast we drive into the African Savannah and wildlife in all its splendor, or/and relax in camp beside the pool or on the banks of the Sabie River.
The Kruger Park is home to almost a thousand bird species, amongst them many birds of prey. Much wildlife can be seen whilst driving along the banks of the Sabie river including predators like lion, leopard and even the endangered wild dog/painted wolf.
Tonight you participate on a night game drive which is guided by an experienced game ranger with unsurpassed knowledge of the African bush.
Nocturnal game drives are where you shall encounter those elusive nocturnal animals who are mostly seen after dark. Including African cats both big and small.
You spend the rest of the day on safari with one of us.
Accommodation Skukuza Rest Camp
Breakfast and Dinner
Mineral water and soft drinks
Hlane Game Reserve – Swaziland – walking safari
Early morning self-drive guided safari encountering the Big Five and other magnificent animals like the endangered white rhino and African wild dog.
Depart for the Kingdom of Swaziland. The landscapes are very similar to those of Switzerland.
We proceed to this fabulous and remote Swazi game reserve famous for very close up white rhino sightings. Check in, lunch before departing on a sunset self-drive.
Accommodation: Hlane Royal Park
Breakfast and dinner/braai
Mineral water and soft drinks
The Baviaanskloof, is associated with pristine nature, narrow gorges with flowing streams, steep mountain passes, vast plains with waving grasslands and views of unspoilt wilderness. Nature has taken its course over thousands of years to create what is today universally recognized as the Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site. Few other places in the world hold evidence of the footprint of human history spanning over a million years.
The narrow valley of the Baviaanskloof is just under 200 kilometers in length and bounded by two mountain ranges: the Baviaanskloof Mountains on the north and the Kouga mountains on the south side. The valley lies at a lower altitude than the Karoo in the north. The rainfall of the Karoo thus filters through the mountains to the Baviaanskloof river. For this reason the valley is surprisingly lush and supports a wider variety of plant species than would have been otherwise expected.
Accommodation: Duiwe Lodge
Breakfast
2 hr 59 min (255 km) via N2 and R62. Addo National Park to Duiwe Lodge.
Mozambique / Ponto Ouro via Maputo
Today we drive East to Ponta Ouro, time permitting we can do a historical tour of the charismatic Mozambique capital Maputo. Arriving at Ponto in the mid afternoon.
Ponta is known as a diving and surfing hot spot, as well as the place to be for swimming with dolphins and whale sharks. In the summer months generally from September to December, endangered turtles come onto the beach to lay their eggs, and in the winter whale watching is a popular attraction. .
Main Destination: Ponto
Breakfast
Mineral water and Soft Drinks
Today we can supervise your activities, like diving with dolphins, swimming, relaxing on the beach, surfing lessons, turtle hunting, and hiking.
Portuguese cuisine in Mozambique is delicious and of great value. Especially seafood.
Meals & Drinks:
Breakfast
Mineral Water and Soft Drinks
Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is one of South Africa’s best-known, most evocative parks. World renowned for having saved the white rhino from extinction. It is the 2nd oldest national park in the world, home to the Big Five and situated in the heart of Zululand.
Spend much of the day exploring this 98000 hectares of wilderness on a guided self-drive safari with me.
Later in the afternoon we arrive in St Lucia village. Time to soak up the last sun rays on the beautiful sub – tropical beaches, or walk through indigenous forests which surround the famous estuary.
Accommodation: Elephant Lake Hotel
Breakfast
Mineral water and soft drinks
- Bianca can assist with laundry
Depart for the St Lucia wetlands park; the most diverse ecosystem on earth. A beach/bush adventure. Returning to the main estuary, you take a sunset boat cruise on the St Lucia wetlands, home to a multitude of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and a World Heritage Site. It is in this complex ecosystem where bush meets beach, mangrove and sand forests are home to a stupendous diversity of wildlife and flora. You have the opportunity to encounter hippos, crocodiles, eagles and maybe even the elusive leopard.
Accommodation: Elephant Lake Hotel
Breakfast
Mineral water and soft drinks
Day 13 – Saturday – 20th July
Depart Drakensberg for our flight from Durban to Cape Town
Arrive late afternoon in Cape Town
Accommodation: Sky Hotel
Breakfast
Mineral Water
Day 14 – SUnday – 21st July
Cape of Good Hope, Seal Island boat cruise, Chapmans Peak and Groot Constantia – full day guided and Cape Town City Tour
This Region is a World Heritage site for its exceptional floral diversity. We follow the west coast via Clifton with a stop at Maiden’s Cove to enjoy a magnificent view of the Twelve Apostles and Camps Bay then to Hout Bay, a charming town where we enjoy a cruise to Duiker Island, home to the world’s largest fur seal colony.
The scenic Chapman’s Peak Pass offers breathtaking scenery.
The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve is where the cold Atlantic waters meet the warm waters of the Indian Ocean
Journeying down to the False Bay coast, lunch is at the old harbor of the historical naval port of Simon’s Town.
We finish our day with a visit to Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest Cape Dutch manor house and wine farm built by the first Governor of the Cape.
Time for a short but insightful city tour of Cape Town.
Accommodation: Sky Hotel _ Cape Town
Breakfast
Mineral Water
This morning you depart for the Drakensberg mountain range, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
A good place to stop for lunch is Howick, the peaceful capital of the Natal Midlands, where the Umgeni River plunges 95 m forming a spectacular waterfall.
Head to the Mandela Capture Site, where the late Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1962 before the famous Rivonia trial when he was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Robben Island. A monument commemorates this event that changed the course of history.
Main Destination:
Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park (Drakensberg, South Africa)
Accommodation:
Meals & Drinks:
Breakfast
Mineral water and fruit juice
Many offered and optional activities are available in this region, which may vary depending on where you are situated in the Drakensberg.
Your choices:
You can opt for a 4×4 excursion and visit Lesotho for the day, via the Sani Pass, the highest in Africa or similar if situated in the Northern Drakensberg. (optional but highly recommended) you can go on a guided hike to the famous cave paintings left by the Bushmen of about 4000 years. You can Trek to the Tugela Falls, the 2nd highest the world, Or visit the Golden Gate National Park, with its unique sandstone rock formations and wildlife, browse around the pretty town of Clarence, with its many little restaurants, or visit the historic battlefields of the 18th century where the English, Afrikaans and Zulu armies, engaged in bloody battles. Note: The last 3 activities are only possible if you opt to stay in the Northern Berg.
Main Destination: Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park (Drakensberg, South Africa)
Accommodation: Karmichael Guestfarm
Breakfast and Dinner
Mineral water and fruit juice
Depart the Berg arriving in Durban in the late morning where we do an historical city tour, walk the Golden Mile and visit the modern Durban coastal hub of Umhlanga Rocks admiring its award winning pier and lovely lighthouse.
Flight to Cape Town, transfer to your hotel.
Accommodation: Sky Hotel
Breakfast
Mineral Water
This Region is a World Heritage site for its exceptional floral diversity. We follow the west coast via Clifton with a stop at Maiden’s Cove to enjoy a magnificent view of the Twelve Apostles and Camps Bay then to Hout Bay, a charming town where we enjoy a cruise to Duiker Island, home to the world’s largest fur seal colony.
The scenic Chapman’s Peak Pass offers breathtaking scenery.
The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve is where the cold Atlantic waters meet the warm waters of the Indian Ocean
Journeying down to the False Bay coast, lunch is at the old harbor of the historical naval port of Simon’s Town.
We finish our day with a visit to Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest Cape Dutch manor house and wine farm built by the first Governor of the Cape.
Time for a short but insightful city tour of Cape Town.
Accommodation: Sky Hotel _ Cape Town
Breakfast
Mineral Water
This morning we departed for the stunning Cape winelands, which includes a city tour of Stellenbosch and degustation de vin.
Thereafter drive to the charming town of Hermanus known for being the world’s best land-based whale watching spot between the months of June to December.
Today you can also take a whale boat cruise (optional/not included) or the next day to get close up to these magnificent Baleen and other marine life. Our special rates apply.
Hermanus has a world renowned (18 hole) golf course, hiking, shopping, wine tasting etc..
Accommodation: The Windsor – Hermanus (situated 20m from the ocean, room with sea view).
Breakfast
Drinks: Mineral water and soft drinks
Southern Cape, whales, penguins, coastal meander and Harold Porter botanical garden – full day guided
Note: Early morning shark cage diving – optional/weather dependent (optional)
After breakfast and perhaps a last whale sighting we continue to Betty’s Bay and visit/walk the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens. Please note that if you do the shark dive the itinerary could change a little to accommodate.
Visit Africa’s largest African Penguin colony at Stoney Point.
We continue hugging the cliffs of the scenic Clarence Drive, voted as one of the world’s most spectacular coastal passes. We stop along the way to admire the sun setting over False Bay.
Arriving in Cape Town around 20:00 after dinner.
Accommodation: Sky Hotel _ Cape Town
Breakfast and Dinner
Mineral Water
Day 17 – Wednesday – 24th July
Leisure: Optional Table Mountain and Robben Island
This morning you ascend Table Mountain via cable car. The views over the city, Table Bay and Robben Island are stupendous. Table Mountain is a New Seven Wonder of the world & UNESCO heritage site. Take a 4 hour cruise and tour the infamous Robben Island
Accommodation: Sky Hotel _ Cape Town
Breakfast
Day 18 – Thursday – 25th July Departure
Flight Departing – 19:20 PM
Airport transfer to Cape Town international.
Time permitting we can organize inspiring activities for you.
Note: Early morning shark cage diving – optional/weather dependent (optional)
After breakfast and perhaps a last whale sighting we continue to Betty’s Bay and visit/walk the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens. Please note that if you do the shark dive the itinerary could change a little to accommodate.
Visit Africa’s largest African Penguin colony at Stoney Point.
We continue hugging the cliffs of the scenic Clarence Drive, voted as one of the world’s most spectacular coastal passes. We stop along the way to admire the sun setting over False Bay.
Arriving in Cape Town around 20:00 after dinner.
Accommodation: Zonnekus – luxury boutique hotel
Breakfast and Dinner
Mineral Water and soft drinks
Kalk Bay was voted the “coolest neighbourhood in the world” a few years ago, its my home village. Just the perfect place to finish your South African safari holiday. This quant and colourful seaside fishing village is only 30 minutes drive from Cape Town city centre, and it is hard to imagine that you are in one of South Africa’s largest cities when visiting Kalk Bay.
Kalk Bay is famous for its boutique antique shops, excellent restaurants and the most famous fish and chip shop in the city.
Everything is within a 3 min walk from your guest house. There are a few tidal pools, safe coastal walks, cave trails in the mountain, surfing lessons at Muizenberg beach, snorkelling with seals and penguins, great white shark cage diving, whale and dolphin watching in season (June to December), fishing off the harbour wall and more. St James tidal pool is famous for those colorful Victorian changing rooms.
I will take you on a coastal hike and show you around.
Accommodation: Zonnekus – luxury boutique hotel
Breakfast and lunch
Time permitting we can organize inspiring activities for you.
Breakfast
18 day/17 nights accommodation in 3 and 4 star establishments
16 day private guide
New SUV vehicle
All activities, conservation and entrance fees as per itinerary unless it is optional (optional activities are offered to you at our preferential rates)
Flight from Durban to Cape Town
Airport transfers
Meals, drinks as per itinerary
Maps, brochures, literature on the region and binoculars
Total per person is USD 5665
